Trevor Holmes Plays MTGO Ep. 10: U/B Faeries!

What’s up guys! Welcome back to my Modern Nexus Video Series, where we take a deck in the format and run it through some matches on Magic Online. This week we have Anthony Huynh’s 13th place GP Pittsburgh U/B Faeries list! U/B Faeries has been popping up randomly ever since Bitterblossom was unbanned last February (read up on Modern’s ban list history here!). Did Anthony finally find the key to Faeries success in Modern? Let’s find out!

Faeries Deck Tech

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Conclusion

So, another solid performance, with a few important lessons learned.

First, Faeries plays similar to Jund Midrange, but with more synergy akin to something like Merfolk. Grinding down combo opponents with both discard and counterspells feels excellent, but topdecking discard and individually weak Faerie cards late definitely feels bad. Often, we are trading cards with our opponent only to have them topdeck better in the lategame. Kolaghan’s Command is pretty close to our worst possible nightmare, and that card is seeing wide play (though not as much as a few weeks ago). I’m not sure what Faeries needs to push it into Tier 1, but for now I would rate it a solid role-player based on metagame conditions. If you’ve got some experience with this deck or have been tuning it yourself, let me know in the comments!

Also, we’re 10 episodes in to our Modern Video Series. While I always ask for opinions and feedback, this week I’m begging for it. Let me know what you like about my Video Series, and more importantly, let me know areas where I can improve! My wish is that this Series can grow, both in popularity and entertainment value for my readers/viewers. Help me out! Thanks for watching guys, and I’ll see you next time.

Trevor started playing Magic in 2011. He plays primarily online and studies Architecture at UNCC. Recent paper Magic accomplishments include a 2015 Regional PTQ win qualifying for Pro Tour: Magic Origins and a Day Two performance at GP Charlotte. He also streams weekdays at twitch.tv/Architect_Gaming! Follow him at twitter.com/7he4rchitect and architectgaming.wordpress.com!

8 thoughts on “Trevor Holmes Plays MTGO Ep. 10: U/B Faeries!”

Hi Trevor! Did you find this deck to be lacking something in these two colors? To put it simply, do you think that these controllish, 26-landish version are better than the tempo-bug one presented in the article below?

Hey Trevor, Funny you should post these, I just started testing this deck about two days ago. I think what you say in video two might be correct, where Grixis and Jund do essentially the same thing but better, largely in part due to the power of kolghans command. That being said, I think there is a lot to say for the power of bitterblossom. Whether that one card is enough to make the deck worthwhile I’m not good enough to say. I agree that mistbind is clunky, and maybe should be relegated to the sideboard, but it’s power against the unfair decks is hard to deny.

Hey Trevor–really enjoy your videos! Awesome content! Do you ever pilot viewer-submitted decks on MTGO? I have a list that I’d really like to see what you could do with it, perhaps tweak it, pilot it, and have it part of your video series. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing my list. Thanks!

Hey, what about mana base? Why don’t you play Secluded Glen and Darkslick Shores? Did you test them? Did you find any problems with mana, ex. to much colourless or wrong colours?
Sacond question: sideboard option. Aren’t you afraid of dredge? You have no gravehate. The same question about quick decks like Death Shadow, Zoo or UB Prowess. Have you consider some lifegain in sideboard, like Kalitas or Batterskull? And finally: why have you choosed this sword? I play Feast/Famine and War/Peace. What did make you to choose that one?

Current metagame: 12/1 – 12/31

NOTE: Metagame % is calculated from the unweighted average of all MTGO leagues, paper T8s/T16s, and GP/PT/Open Day 2s in the date range. Data is tracked in the Top Decks page, which you can browse for more details.